Harlan County freshman Brayden Casolari added another title to his growing collection, shooting an even-par 35 on Monday at the Cedar Hill Country Club in Jonesville, Va., to defeat Lee High’s Caleb Leonard by two strokes and teammate Matt Lewis by four strokes. Lee edged the Bears by two strokes to win the team competition.
Lee has a talented, well coached team — top to bottom their kids can play,” Harlan County coach Greg Lewis said. “Brayden continued his stellar play. I think he gets better every time he tees it up. The thing that he’s doing so well now is if he misses a shot he’s able to recover and keep the big numbers off his card. Matt played really well tonight as well. He had one bad hole that cost him otherwise he would have contended with Brayden for the win. His short game and putting were exceptional tonight.”
Alex Creech was next for the Bears with a 43, one stroke ahead of Cole Cornett.
“Cole struggled a bit tonight. He’s been playing absolutely great all season, and tonight was just one of those nights he didn’t have his best stuff,” Lewis said. “But he battled and managed a respectable score from what could have been higher.”
Evan Simpson rounded out the HCHS contingent with a 48.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of Evan. He has absolutely put in the work on his game. He is improving by leaps and bounds every time he tees it up,” Lewis said. : His ball striking is great, and he just needs to tighten up his short game a bit and he will really have some low scores. He beat his previous low score by five shots.”
The Bears are scheduled to return to action Tuesday in their last regular season Pine Mountain Golf Conference match before the league tournament next week.
“We are peaking at the right time, and we are staying focused,” Lewis said. “There’s not a lot of season left but a ton to play for.”